Gigabyte Launches Flagship AORUS Z390 XTREME Motherboard

Gigabyte is launching a new flagship Z390 chipset-based motherboard under its AORUS brand. The aptly-named Z390 AORUS Xtreme ratchets up the aesthetics, power delivery, connectivity, and the RGB Fusion to prepare for Intel’s newest 9th Generation Core processors including the eight core Core i9 9900K.

The AORUS Xtreme uses a 16-phase Digital IR power phase design that can self-balance to reduce clocks of VRM controller and heat generated by the various phases especially under heavy overclocking scenarios. Gigabyte continues to include its Fins-Array heatsinks though they have been upgraded to four direct touch heatpipes to help cool the VRM areas. There is also a massive backplate and coating on the underside of the PCB to help dissipate heat though in practice it’s likely more for aesthetics than anything. The LGA 1151 socket is paired with four DDR4 DIMM slots. Sitting below the processor are three PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots, two PCI-E 3.0 x1 slots, and three PCI-E 3.0 x4 M.2 (or SATA) slots with Thermal Guard heatsinks. Further, there are six SATA 6 Gpbs ports in the bottom right corner. As far as power delivery, the board has two 8-pin CPU power connectors, a right-angle solid pin 24-pin ATX connector, and a 6-pin PCI-E connector to provide auxiliary slot power for graphics cards.